Reviews

Elif Shafak is clearly an incredible writer and a deeply empathetic person, and I really wanted to love this book. There were aspects of it I liked, and it did emotionally hit me a handful of times, but it is deeply frustrating how much better this book could have been with some pruning.

This is my second Elif Shafak book this year (after Three Daughters of Eve). I feel that The Island of Missing Trees has the opposite problem to that book. Three Daughters of Eve was incredibly compelling and compulsively readable, but it's themes and message were messy - I don't think Shafak had a clear sense of what she was trying to say with that book. By contrast, The Island of Missing Trees has a very clear, very beautiful set of themes and messages about home, conflict, tribalism and the struggle for peaceful coexistence. Shafak brings out these themes beautifully in gorgeous writing. However, the book just wasn't compelling for me.

The book switches between two timelines, one focused on the love story of Kostas and Defne in turbulent 1970s Cyprus, and the other on their daughter in the modern day. A forbidden love across national boundaries in times of war should be the perfect setting for a gripping, emotional story. But it's not, because the modern storyline spoils everything in the first. There is no tension or anticipation in where Kostas and Defne's story will go: not only do you know they will end up together, moving to England and having a child, but literally every single beat of their story is mentioned in advance. A comparison that springs to my mind is Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns, which similarly focuses on a young couple in wartime. Hosseini's story also covers important themes, but also manages to be thrilling and terrifying and gut-wrenching. The fact that Hosseini's story was more compelling made me much more invested in the characters: the emotional punches of that novel hit me much harder than those of this one.

I'm not done with Shafak yet. I love her writing and I still believe that somewhere in her immense back catalogue, she has a book that I will absolutely adore. This sadly wasn't that book, though.

lizzylovesflowers's review against another edition

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emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

olivaresp's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

batekillman's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Poignant personal stories of unimaginable strife (though fictional, based very closely on real life experiences), layered with beautiful lore and incredibly interesting factoids about the flora and fauna of the world.

Content Warnings

inaakata's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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